Publications

Forthcoming
Article

Second Chance: Life with Less Student Debt

By: Marco Di Maggio, Ankit Kalda and Vincent Yao

This paper examines the effect of student debt relief on individual credit and labor market outcomes. We exploit an episode of plausibly random debt discharge due to the loss of paperwork for thousands of borrowers to examine the effects of private student debt relief... View Details

Keywords: Student Debt; Private Student Loans; Legal Settlement; Mobility; Debt Collection; Debt Relief; Personal Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Outcome or Result

SSRN

May 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Depreciation at Delta Air Lines: The "Fresh Start"

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In estimating depreciation for accounting purposes, Delta Air Lines has changed its assumptions about aircraft lifespan and residual values four times in the last thirty years or so. In the most recent changes, Delta adopted fair value accounting as part of its fresh... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Policies; Accounting Procedures; Depreciation; Bankruptcy; Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Policy; Air Transportation Industry

17 Apr 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Poverty and Crime: Evidence from Rainfall and Trade Shocks in India

Keywords: by Lakshmi Iyer & Petia Topalova

December 2018
Article

Some Elements of Peronist Beliefs and Tastes

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

We study the beliefs and values of Peronism. Instead of a comprehensive approach, we focus on three elements. First, we study beliefs and values about the economic system present in Peron’s speeches during the period 1943–1955. Second, given that these beliefs are... View Details

Keywords: Populism; Altruism; Exploitation; Economic Systems; Values and Beliefs; Argentina

Read Now

May 2015
Teaching Note

The United Kingdom and the Means to Prosperity

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Hilary White

After struggling through the country's longest recession since 2008, the U.K. was expected to grow faster than any other G7 nation in 2014. Analysts wondered whether the return to growth was because, or in spite of, Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial £113... View Details

24 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Equalizing Outcomes vs. Equalizing Opportunities: Optimal Taxation when Children’s Abilities Depend on Parents’ Resources

Keywords: by Alexander Gelber & Matthew Weinzierl

22 Feb 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Consumer Demand for Prize-Linked Savings: A Preliminary Analysis

Keywords: by Peter Tufano, Nick Maynard & Jan-Emmanuel De Neve; Financial Services

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

June 2024
Article

Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets

By: Alberto Cavallo

The Covid-19 pandemic led to changes in expenditure patterns that introduced significant bias in the measurement of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation. Using publicly-available data on card transactions, I updated the official CPI weights and re-calculated inflation... View Details

Keywords: COVID; Consumer Expenditures; CPI; Inflation; Consumer Behavior; Inflation and Deflation; Health Pandemics

February 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Mibanco: Meeting the Mainstreaming of Microfinance

By: Michael Chu and Gustavo A. Herrero

Mibanco, Peru's leading microfinance bank, faces intense competition as the banking industry rushes into low income segments. Companion video clips bring into the classroom the contemporary reality of a world-class microfinance institution, where the unpaved streets... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Profit; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Service Operations; Performance; Competition; Banking Industry; Peru

April 1982 (Revised June 1985)
Case

Westinghouse Electric Corp.: Quality of Earnings Analysis

Westinghouse had just issued its annual report to shareholders for the year ending December 31, 1973. The report indicates that sales have increased to a record $5.7 billion but that net income is down almost 20% from its record level of $199 million in the previous... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Financial Reporting; Corporate Finance; Electronics Industry

October 2011
Article

Fair Pricing

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

This paper explores the consequences of supposing that consumers see a firm as fair if they cannot reject the hypothesis that the firm is somewhat benevolent towards them. When consumers can reject this hypothesis, some become angry, which is costly to the firm. The... View Details

Keywords: Price; Income; Consumer Behavior; Fair Value Accounting; Outcome or Result

Find at Harvard

03 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 3, 2008

China‘s income inequality has risen rapidly over that same time frame, Vietnam‘s has only grown moderately. Structural and socio-cultural determinants fail to account for these divergent pathways. Existing political variables are also... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July–August 2014
Article

The Crisis in Retirement Planning

By: Robert C. Merton

Corporate America began to really take notice of the looming retirement crisis in the wake of the dot-com crash, when companies in major industries went bankrupt in large part because of their inability to meet their pension obligations. The result was an acceleration... View Details

Find at Harvard

21 Aug 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Banks’ Risk Exposures

Keywords: by Juliane Begenau; Accounting; Banking; Financial Services

September 15, 2022
Article

Work-From-Anywhere as a Public Policy: 3 Findings from the Tulsa Remote Program

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Evan Starr and Thomaz Teodorovicz

The adoption of work-from-anywhere by organizations might help smaller towns and communities across the country attract talent and reverse brain drain, by incentivizing remote workers to migrate to such locations. We evaluate how the Tulsa Remote program, which... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Grants; Labor; Government Administration; Tulsa

Read Now

2012
Case

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Olivia Leskinen

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A) 2009 AL Fellow Bob Whelan developed an idea with partners that was a seed before his fellowship year and seemed to address a significant national challenge - college financing - with a creative concept and experience from... View Details